After a long development cycle (including many betas and
release candidates to get everything just exactly perfect) we're pleased to
announce the availability of the new stable release. You'll find updates
throughout the system, with the latest development tools and recent versions
of applications, window managers, desktop environments, and utilities. The
Linux kernel is updated to version 4.4.14 (part of the 4.4.x kernel series
that will be getting long-term support from the kernel developers). We've
brought together the best of these and other modern components and worked our
magic on them. If you've used Slackware before, you'll find the system feels
like home.

Build scripts for all kinds of additional software for Slackware 14.2 can be found on
the slackbuilds.org website.

Want to give Slackware 14.2 a test drive without modifying your disk drive? Then check out
Slackware Live Edition! This is a complete Slackware installation that can run from a CD, DVD,
or USB stick. Thanks to Eric Hameleers for the great work on this! Here's where to find it:
http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/slackware/slackware-live/

Please consider supporting the Slackware project by picking up a copy of the
Slackware 14.2 release from the Slackware Store.
The discs are off to replication, but we're accepting pre-orders for the
official 6 CD set and the DVD. The CD set is the 32-bit x86 release, while
the DVD is a dual-sided disc with the 32-bit x86 release on
one side and the 64-bit x86_64 release on the other.
Thanks to our subscribers and supporters for keeping Slackware going all these years.

Thanks to the Slackware team for all the hard work getting 14.2 ready for action!
And of course, thanks to all the open source developers upstream, and to the Slackware
community on linuxquestions.org
for all the help with bug reports, suggestions, and patches.
We couldn't have done it without you.

The pressure of delivering the Slackware web site - especially at release time - has
been an issue for some time.

Akamai - the leading global Content Delivery Network - have generously
provided us with extensive global content caching and Internet routing performance enhancements, allowing us
to keep the site up, even at peak times.

A big thanks to the guys at Akamai for making this happen.

2013-11-03

Slackware switching to the MariaDB database

From today's Slackware -current ChangeLog:

The big news here is the removal of MySQL in favor of MariaDB. This
shouldn't really be a surprise on any level. The poll on LQ showed a large
majority of our users were in favor of the change. It's my belief that
the MariaDB Foundation will do a better job with the code, be more
responsive to security concerns, and be more willing to work with the
open source community. And while I don't think there is currently any
issue with MySQL's licensing of the community edition for commercial uses,
several threads on LQ showed that there is confusion about this, whereas
with MariaDB the freedom to use the software is quite clear. Thanks are
due to Heinz Wiesinger for his work on transitioning the build script,
testing, and getting us all behind this move. He's been working with
MariaDB (and their developers) for several years now. Vincent Batts also
had a hand in the early discussions here -- he met Daniel Bartholomew of
MariaDB on a train last year and got a copy of the source to play with to
pass the time on the journey (ah, the miracle of thumbdrives :), and was
impressed with not only MariaDB itself, but also with the welcome that
Slackware was getting. We expect they'll be responsive to any concerns
we have. In the vast majority of situations, MariaDB is entirely
compatible with existing MySQL databases and will drop right in with no
changes required. There's an article available outlining the areas in
which MariaDB differs from MySQL that I'd recommend reading:
https://kb.askmonty.org/v/mariadb-versus-mysql-compatibility/
Thanks to the MariaDB Foundation! We look forward to working with you.